Effects of Catastrophic Hurricane Disturbance On the Biogeochemistry of Forested Watersheds.

Hurricanes (typhoons) are tropical storms with high wind speeds and large amounts of rainfall.  An overview of the literature suggests that despite their obvious impacts on forest structure, the long-term effects of hurricane damage are not well quantified across biomes.  The impacts of hurricanes on soil trace gas flux, soil solution chemistry, groundwater chemistry, and stream chemistry in the Luquillo Experimental Forest will be reviewed, and compared to the effects of other natural disturbances in forested watersheds.  Future changes in hurricane frequency or intensity are likely to occur due to climate change, with uncertain long-term impacts on forest productivity, soil organic matter accumulation, greenhouse gas production, and nitrogen export. An ongoing experiment in the Luquillo Mountains addresses some of these questions